


of cats and curses

by faerialchemist



Category: Fruits Basket (Anime 2019), Fruits Basket - Takaya Natsuki (Manga), She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Crossover, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Slice of Life, The Author Regrets Nothing, adora is a lil protective, catra and kyo are both cats, catra needs a nap, catradora meets kyoru, kyo is also a lil protective, making new friends, the crossover i was BORN to write, they also both attract cats lmao, tohru is doing her best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:14:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24735256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faerialchemist/pseuds/faerialchemist
Summary: “I’ve only seen these cats get so excited about someone sitting outside a pet store with one other person in my entire life,” a warm and almost suffocatingly kind voice said, snapping Catra out of her thoughts. “And he had that same disgruntled expression that you do. Poor kitties try to make friends with the very people who don’t want to be made friends with.”(Catradora meets Kyoru. As you might expect, chaos ensues.)
Relationships: Adora & Honda Tohru, Adora & Sohma Kyou, Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Catra & Honda Tohru, Catra & Sohma Kyou, Honda Tohru/Sohma Kyou
Comments: 10
Kudos: 58





	of cats and curses

**Author's Note:**

> i was physically compelled to write this crossover by unknown forces from above. it takes place after s5 of she ra and after the beach arc in fruits basket; there shouldn't be any spoilers if you're caught up in both shows. enjoy! :)

~*~

Catra had been more than willing to let Adora do most of the talking. She was normally more eager to learn about the new planets they were exploring, but that day… Ugh. She really wasn’t sure what was making her mood so foul. Or she couldn’t pinpoint a singular cause, anyways. It was probably some God-awful combination of the pittering drizzle of rain falling from the gray sky around her, the fact that the miserable planet ‘Earth’ she was on seemed to have no traces of magic whatsoever, and the immediate reality that Adora was no longer by her side. Which was the main downfall of Adora doing all of the talking - Catra was left behind. At her own request, of course, so she could only blame herself, but still. She wanted to stew in her misery for a bit.

This ‘Earth’ was their last stop before they’d be flying back to Bright Moon. Catra never thought she’d be _relieved_ to be returning there, but times had changed, she supposed. During their numerous quests to restore magic to the universe, day-trips and monthly adventures alike, they’d come to learn that some planets had never had magic in the first place. Even rarer, select places did not _want_ magic returned to their world. In other words, the Best Friend Squad - she still didn’t know how she felt about that name - had taken to asking around amongst the locals to first determine the magic status of planets before they actually began the restoration process.

So now Adora was schmoozing with the locals - probably badly, because her acting skills left much to be desired - in some place called a pet store, while Catra sat on an uncomfortable metal bench outside while silently wishing she had an umbrella. She could raise her bag above her head, but she had a feeling it wouldn’t do much. Also it had their communications pads in it, and she figured unduly exposing them to freezing rain was not a good thing.

Ugh. She should have sucked it up and gone inside with Adora.

Catra yelped as the bracelet projecting her holographic disguise suddenly shocked her, and she lifted her wrist to figure out why, exactly, it had done that. She couldn’t _see_ anything wrong with it… Uh oh. Maybe it wasn’t waterproof. She probably should have asked Entrapta about that.

Oops. Too late?

Even more annoying than her bracelet that was now randomly spazzing out were the stupid cats in the pet store behind her that kept clamoring and scratching on the glass! Sure, she was grateful for that wall of glass because it stopped them from physically getting to her, but it was nowhere close to soundproof, meaning their yowls were barely dulled down. And most of the cats were just saying hello, but she didn’t want to turn around and acknowledge that, because she was pretty sure most people on Earth could not understand animals. She didn’t care that there was no else around - she wasn’t taking any chances. Which just meant the cats would think she was rude, but she’d rather live with that than become Earth’s resident crazy cat lady by striking up a conversation with the Siamese or the Persians in a pet store.

Huh. Could the cats see through Entrapta’s disguise? Surely not. Catra tapped her bracelet to make sure the hologram was still active, wincing as another jolt of electricity shot through her arm. Definitely still active. So maybe the cats could just… _feel_ that she was like them. A gut instinct. Or something.

Really, there was no use thinking about it. Where the hell was Adora?

“I’ve only seen these cats get so excited about someone sitting outside a pet store with one other person, in my entire life,” a warm and almost suffocatingly kind voice said, snapping Catra out of her thoughts. “And he had that same disgruntled expression that you do. Poor kitties try to make friends with the very people who don’t want to be made friends with.”

Catra looked up to see a brown-haired girl standing in front of her, a bright smile on her face and a navy blue umbrella in her hand. She appeared way too cheerful for someone walking outside in a minor rainstorm. Catra also vaguely recognized that the language the girl was speaking was _not_ one she understood, but Entrapta’s translator appeared to be doing the trick. Now hopefully it would continue to work in reverse.

“Ah… yeah,” she finally managed to say. “Cats… like me. Too much.”

The girl laughed. “You sound so much like Kyo!” She offered Catra her hand. “My name is Tohru. It’s lovely to meet you, Miss…?”

Catra scrambled to remember her cover name that they’d hastily made up when they learned ‘Catra’ was not a normal name on Earth. “I - uh, I’m Catrina,” she said, shaking the girl’s hand, though she remained on the bench. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

“So what has you sitting outside in the rain?” the girl - Tohru - asked curiously, giving her a look of concern. “Are you okay? Do you need a place to stay for the night?”

Catra fought to ignore the cats still meowing behind her. Their chant had shifted to a collective _FEED ME_ , which she obviously couldn’t do because she was not inside, but apparently they hadn’t figured that out yet. “No, I’m - I’m fine,” she stammered, wincing halfway through her sentence as Entrapta’s disguise-bracelet suddenly shocked her again. Ouch. “Just waiting for someone.”

Tohru frowned. “In the rain? Without any cover?” She immediately thrust her umbrella in Catra’s direction. “Take this, Miss Catrina. I only live about five minutes away up the road, and I feel you are in far more need of it than I.”

And now the light on Entrapta’s bracelet was flickering on and off. Ugh, that couldn’t be good. Catra did not want to accidentally give this random and kind of annoyingly nice girl a heart attack by suddenly looking… er, not like a human. “No, I’m really fine,” she insisted, jumping to her feet. “But I appreciate the offer.”

Tohru’s frown deepened. “Are you sure? I don’t want you to get hypothermia, miss.”

Catra instinctively covered her bracelet with her free hand when she noticed sparks flying off of it in her peripheral vision. “I’m sure,” she said, trying to sound as sincere as possible. “In fact, I should probably -” She cut herself off with a yelp as lightning flashed and a loud crack of thunder boomed through the air, sudden enough to make the fur on her tail stand on end as she violently reached up to cover her ears, shoulders hunching over in the process.

Apparently the sudden motion was too much for the barely-functioning bracelet to take, the bracelet that was admittedly already worse for the wear after she’d had an encounter with some kind of slime monster on a planet called Tamaran, as it snapped off her wrist before falling to the ground, now broken in half. And with that, her disguise vanished.

Catra had never bit her tongue so hard to avoid letting out a string of frustrated curses. She was pretty sure it was bleeding now.

The girl’s - no, _Tohru’s_ , she had a name - eyes widened as she watched the series of unfortunate events unfold. “You’re… you have cat… ears? A tail?”

Dammit. Now she was going to have to hear an annoying lecture from Sparkles and probably Arrow Boy about jeopardizing the mission, though she really didn’t think this was _her_ fault. “Uh…” Catra said, frantically trying to come up with an excuse, “would you believe me if I told you this was an elaborate costu-”

“Are you cursed, too?” Tohru interrupted, kneeling down to pick up the pieces of the bracelet from the ground. “I mean, your transformation is not quite like the Sohma’s, but I suppose it would be rash of me to presume the zodiac curse is the only one to exist in the world, wouldn’t it? Perhaps there is something else -”

Catra sneezed, accidentally cutting her off. Which she mildly regretted, because she had no freaking clue what the girl was going on about. A curse? So-ma? The hell was going on with this planet?

And most importantly, where on Earth was Adora?

“Oh my goodness, you’re freezing!” Tohru exclaimed, horrified, as she stood up. “I am so sorry, I was being incredibly inconsiderate! You poor thing, you’re not even dressed for rainy weather!”

Now that she mentioned it, Catra realized that she was shivering. Ugh. Stupid fur. It was so hard to warm up after it got wet.

“Let’s go to Shigure’s house,” Tohru said, taking Catra’s hand and pulling her away towards a dirt path, doing her best to hold her umbrella over the both of them. “We can warm you up, get you a towel and a change of clothes, and I’ll do my best to help you repair your bracelet, though it’s not similar to Kyo’s at all so I don’t know if I’ll be much use. While we do that you can explain the details of your curse to me! But only if you’re okay with talking about it, of course.” She shook her head, a mixture of shock and curiosity in her eyes. “I wonder if Kyo and Yuki were aware that other families could have a curse similar to the zodiac?”

Catra still had no idea what all this curse nonsense was, but she was both surprised and grateful that the girl hadn’t freaked out and run away upon seeing her… er, true form, as it were. However, the main problem was that she was currently being taken away from Adora, which was stressful because Catra _needed_ Adora and also because Adora would undoubtedly freak out the moment she realized Catra was missing and cause havoc by turning into She-Ra or something. “Actually, I kind of have to stay here -”

“I promise, there’s no need to be nervous!” Tohru reassured her, and her voice was so gentle and sincere that Catra found herself struggling to _not_ believe her. “If you stay here, someone might run into you who won’t understand what’s going on. They could even try to hurt you! I promise that I’m taking you to a safe place where there are people… where there are people struggling with a - a similar issue to what you have.”

Catra seriously doubted that. She was pretty sure that Earth had never had successful contact with other planets, meaning the chances of there being Etherians in this girl’s house were almost zero, much less Etherians like _her_. Still, the thought of going somewhere warm and dry with this pseudo-Perfuma who hadn’t lost her shit upon seeing that Catra was definitely not human was… well, rather appealing.

But Adora. _Adora_. She at least needed to let her know where she was going.

“When we… er, get to wherever you’re taking me, can I… send a message to the person I was waiting for?” Wow. She sounded so timid it was downright mortifying. “Just to let her know where I am.”

“Of course!” Tohru said as they turned a corner on the dirt pathway. “Your friend is absolutely welcome to join us. Is she cursed, too?”

Was She-Ra considered a curse? It sure felt that way sometimes. But Catra was still completely lost on what the whole ‘curse’ thing was, especially how it related to her being part cat. “Er, I don’t think so -” And she promptly cut herself off with another sneeze. Ugh. She was going to catch a cold.

“Don’t worry, we’re almost there!” Tohru said, pulling her slightly faster. True to her word, Catra could see a warmly lit house at the end of the road. “I’m so sorry we have to walk through the rain like this. But I’m going to make you some hot tea and give you a fluffy blanket and turn up the heat and just whatever you need to warm up and get comfortable, okay?”

And the girl did exactly that. She gave Catra a towel to dry off with as well as a set of clean clothing to change into before she practically swaddled her with a blanket and placed a steaming mug of tea on the low table in front of her. Really, her personality was the absolute epitome of Scorpia and Perfuma combined. Catra had also made sure to send Adora a message about her location while Tohru had been preparing everything, or else she knew she’d forget to do it entirely.

“Is everything okay? Would you like something to eat? There’s not a lot in the fridge, but I’m sure I can whip something up pretty quickly -”

“No, no, everything is fine,” Catra interrupted, still feeling kind of awkward around Tohru but also still relieved that the girl hadn’t - hadn’t fainted or anything. “I’m almost back to normal, uh, body-warmth already.” Ugh, that was horrendously phrased. Oh well. C’est la vie, or whatever Sparkles had taken to saying after visiting Flance. Finance? She really didn’t know what the country was called. Regardless, the girl either hadn’t noticed or hadn’t cared.

Tohru nodded, kneeling down on the side of the table opposite Catra. She placed Entrapta’s bracelet - or the pieces of it - down in front of her. “I was hoping I could repair this for you, but it’s not the same… er, anti-curse material that I’ve seen before. It seems to be technologically-based, and unfortunately I’m terrible with tech. I’m so sorry I couldn’t be of more help!”

Right. The ‘curse’. “Don’t worry about it,” Catra said, waving her hand dismissively. “I have a friend who can fix it.”

Tohru didn’t appear satisfied by her reassurance. “Are you certain? I can ask the person I know who’s in - who’s kind of… like you, so to speak, if he’ll take a look at it and see if he -”

Catra held up a hand to silence the girl, ears twitching. She could have sworn she heard footsteps from above them. “Tohru…” Weird. She was pretty sure that was the first time she’d addressed the girl by name. “Are we the only ones here right now?”

Tohru frowned. “I - I believe so. Why?”

Catra’s ears craned to catch the sound. The footsteps - they’d moved. Moved towards… “Because someone is about to come down those stairs,” she growled, lowering her voice to a whisper as she untangled herself from the blanket and vaulted across the table to land in front of Tohru, claws bared. “Stay behind me.”

“Okay,” Tohru squeaked, and Catra wasn’t sure if she was more afraid of the thought of an intruder or of Catra herself. Hopefully not the latter.

A tall boy with carrot-orange hair arrived at the foot of the stairs. “Tohru, are you bac-”

Catra’s tail flicked, and she launched herself at the boy. Damn, she couldn’t believe only a few months at Bright Moon - and numerous sessions with Perfuma - had turned her into someone who’d defend a stranger at a moment’s notice. Though she supposed Tohru wasn’t quite a stranger at this point.

Catra easily tackled the guy to the floor, her forearm lying across his throat with hopefully just enough pressure to keep him pinned down without her having to get on top of him. Her other hand loomed in a threatening manner above his face, claws still out. “Who are you, and what are you doing here?” she demanded.

“Miss Catrina, _wait_ -” Tohru started to protest frantically, but she was soon cut off.

“What the hell?!” the guy snapped. “I could ask the same about you!” In the blink of an eye, he flipped Catra over his head with expertise she found begrudgingly impressive even as her back was slammed painfully onto the ground.

Shit. Now he had her in the same position she’d used on him. But damn, that was a good move on his part.

“So who the hell are you?” he growled, and Catra felt a chill run down her spine because she’d only heard that type of guttural noise twice before in her life - from Melog, and from… herself. “And why the fuck are you in our house?” She noticed the way his pupils had thinned in an… almost catlike manner. And - And it looked like he had fangs? Plus, now that her mind had set sail on that boat, she realized he _smelled_ like a cat, too, in the way only another cat or, er, cat-person would know.

Oh, this was so weird. She never wanted to come back to this planet.

“Kyo, please stop!”

“Did she hurt you, Tohru?”

“No! She’s - She’s a friend! Sort of. She’s very nice, and she was just trying to protect me because I didn’t know you were home already, and - and I think she might be cursed, too!”

“What?” The boy - Kyo? - looked down at Catra, as if taking in her… well, unusual appearance - by this planet’s standards, at least - for the first time. The pressure against her neck lessened. “She’s… Wait.” He turned to look at Tohru, though he noticeably did not remove his arm from her neck entirely. “You’re telling me that the zodiacs aren’t the only -”

He was interrupted by the sliding door to the home being slammed open, with a familiar panicked voice filtering in. “Catra, are you -”

Crap. Adora, whom she loved with her entire being, _always_ managed to have the worst timing.

Adora’s eyes widened as she took in the situation, then narrowed with a burning intensity Catra had only seen a few times before. Her girlfriend began to glow with a blue aura, her eyes shining with that same blinding light, though thankfully she stopped short of fully transforming into She-Ra. Glowing was easier to pass off as a trick of the light compared to suddenly growing three and a half feet taller, at least according to Glimmer. Catra was inclined to agree.

Adora’s protective nature was undeniably attractive, but Catra _really_ didn’t want her girlfriend to have some poor guy’s murder on her conscience once everything got straightened out. “Adora, wait -”

“Get your hands _off_ of her!” Adora snapped, grabbing the boy by the back of his shirt and slamming him against the wall.

The anxiety written all over Tohru’s face as she rushed over to the boy’s side indicated to Catra that there was clearly a massive misunderstanding going on. She pushed herself up into a sitting position. “Adora, _stop_ -”

At the sound of Catra’s voice, Adora immediately dropped to her side, blue light fading as she pulled her into a bone-crushing hug, burying her face in her girlfriend’s shoulder. “Catra, don’t you _dare_ run off on a strange planet ever again.”

The fear in Adora’s voice chillingly reminded her of their time on Horde Prime’s ship, and she had to blink back tears as she returned the hug. “Okay. I promise.”

Those words seemed to do the trick, as Adora relaxed before gently releasing her from the hug, pulling back to frantically look over her. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you? Do I need to -”

“I’m _fine_ ,” Catra interrupted, grabbing her girlfriend’s hands and giving them a reassuring squeeze. “Honest.”

Her insistence didn’t stop Adora from standing up and turning around with a lethal look in her eyes, her gaze narrowing as she focused on the boy, who had just managed to sit up with the help of Tohru and was now grimacing as he rubbed the back of his head. “What the hell were you doing with your hands on my girlfriend?!”

The boy glared at her in response, similarly getting to his feet as he did so, though noticeably more unbalanced than Adora had been. “Your girlfriend attacked me! I was trying to defend myself and protect Tohru!”

“So your idea of self-defense is to have her in a position that could be fatal? Sorry, but I have my doubts.”

“I have self-restraint, you dumbass! What the hell would I have to gain from killing her?!”

“Oh, sure, you say that _now_ -”

“Enough!” Tohru shouted, jumping in front of the boy with her arms out and startling Adora to the point where she actually took a step back. Catra noticed that the girl was trembling, but she stood her ground. “ _Please_. Stop arguing. Don’t - Don’t hurt him.”

Oh.

_Oh_.

The way her voice wavered. The way she’d immediately rushed to his side. The way she was clearly terrified but had still thrown herself in front of the boy to protect him. Hell, the way the boy had demanded to know if she had hurt Tohru before he’d even thought about himself.

There was something between them. Maybe they weren’t _together_ , but Catra suspected it was only a matter of time.

Tohru took a deep breath, her body still visibly shaking. “I think there is a misunderstanding going on here, and that we all need to - to calm down for a moment. And talk.”

Catra nodded as she stood up, her hip slightly sore from the awkward angle that she’d been flipped onto the ground earlier. “Tohru’s right.” She slipped her hand back into Adora’s. “I _did_ lash out first, because I thought Carrot Boy over there had broken into Tohru’s house, and even though we’d just met, Tohru had been really nice to me and I didn’t want her to get hurt. So I was just… trying to protect her.” Adora sent her a look that said _I am so proud of you_ , which Catra pointedly ignored. “But that might have been a teeny bit of a hasty assumption for me.”

“Yeah, it was,” the guy snapped, though his expression softened slightly as Tohru placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a worried look. “Listen. I live here, too, okay?”

Catra winced. “Er… Sorry?”

The boy didn’t respond, simply crossing his arms over his chest. He _still_ smelled like a cat to her. Were there pets in this house somewhere that Catra couldn’t see?

“And we of course accept your apology,” Tohru said kindly, clasping her hands together. “Now, why don’t we properly introduce ourselves before we try to figure out the nitty-gritty details of what’s going on? My name is - _ahh_!” As she was stepping forward to offer her hand to Adora, her foot caught in the blanket Catra had previously been bundled up in, and she seemed to fall towards the floor in slow motion. Both Catra and Adora instinctively jumped to catch her, but the guy beat them to it, looping an arm around Tohru’s waist and pulling her backwards into his chest.

He helped stabilize her, their faces noticeably both cherry red, before giving a resigned sigh. Seconds later, he disappeared in an orange cloud of smoke, leaving a pile of clothes on the floor in his wake as well as an annoyed-looking cat the same color as the cloud sitting on top of his t-shirt.

As much as that made _no_ sense to Catra, at least she could now conclude that he smelled like a cat and looked like a cat and acted like a cat because he… _was_ a cat? Kind of?

“You know,” Adora said after a long pause, moving her arm to wrap around her girlfriend’s waist, “I thought this planet didn’t have any magic, but now… I’m pretty sure I was wrong.”

Catra sighed. “Great observation, babe.”

Explanations were definitely needed. On _all_ sides.

~*~

Tohru thought the strangest day of her life would always be the first time she accidentally transformed Kyo, Yuki, and Shigure into their zodiac forms.

That day had now quite possibly been bumped down to second place.

“So you’re… from another planet?” Tohru repeated, the thought almost dizzying. “And you came to Earth to see if we - if we needed magic brought back to our world?”

Catrina - no, _Catra_ , she chastised herself - nodded. There was a certain sympathy to her eyes. “Yes. I’m sure this is pretty overwhelming for you.”

That was putting it lightly. But Tohru shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I think I’m understanding it all now.” Though it was definitely a lot to take in. A small frown creased her lips, and she tilted her head slightly in confusion. “So then… You _aren’t_ cursed?”

Catra snickered. “Cursed to be with this idiot, maybe,” she said teasingly, giving the blonde girl beside her - Adora - a fond look, who lightly elbowed her in response. “But no, I’m not cursed. This is my… true form, I guess.”

Tohru could feel her face pale at the girl’s words, and she didn’t miss the way Kyo flinched, either. “I see.”

There was an awkward pause, and Tohru had no idea how to break it. Normally she’d offer food or something to drink, but the two girls had already refused. Or rather, Catra had refused, much to what had looked like Adora’s silent dismay. Oh, she felt like a terrible hostess.

“So… you can transform into a giant warrior princess?” Kyo asked slowly, gesturing to Adora. “Which is why you got all glowy earlier? Like some magical girl anime?”

“I have no clue what that means, but yes. I can transform into She-Ra.” Adora gave him an apologetic smile. “And again, I’m really sorry for throwing you into the wall. I just saw you on top of Catra and completely freaked out.” She pressed a kiss to Catra’s temple, who blushed furiously at the action but made no move to get away, instead not-very-subtly scooting even closer to her. They were very cute, in Tohru’s opinion.

She noticed Kyo’s face soften as he watched their interaction. She loved that rare, gentle expression on him. “No,” he said quietly, eyes flickering over to Tohru before immediately dropping to the table. “I understand.”

Tohru could feel her face reddening at his words, brief as his glance towards her had been. If Adora and Catra noticed, they didn’t comment, for which she was silently grateful.

“Anyways,” Adora continued, “after asking around and getting stared at like a crazy person many, many times, I’d come to the conclusion that this planet was magic-free and always had been.” She pointed at Kyo. “And then _you_ turned into a cat. Which I’ve only seen happen, like, one other time.” She glanced at Catra. “But Melog’s technically a shapeshifter, right? So it’s not the same thing.” She shook her head when Catra shrugged. “Not my point. So _how_ did you do that, sir?”

Kyo picked at his fingernail, still not making eye contact with them. “Trust me,” he said, his voice low. “There was nothing magical about that.”

Catra raised an eyebrow, and she locked her gaze with Tohru’s. “Right. You kept talking about a curse.”

Tohru flinched, and she glanced at Kyo. “Ah, am I allowed to…?” She felt bad for mentioning it so many times earlier, but Catra had looked like a normal human and then her bracelet fell off and she’d suddenly had a dozen catlike features… she’d gotten such a chilling sense of déjà vu that a curse had felt like the most logical conclusion at the time.

Kyo sighed. “I mean, they’re from another planet. It’s not like they’re going to run into Akito. So why not?”

Tohru nodded, smoothing her skirt as she returned her attention to their guests. “A long time ago, there was a banquet hosted by God.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. The ribbon that normally held it back had fallen out amidst all the earlier chaos. “God invited 13 animals to join them at this feast. 12 attended. Eventually, all 13 animals vowed to remain by God’s side. Forever. This… bond has been recreated every generation through - through the Sohma family. If they are hugged by someone of the opposite sex, they turn into their zodiac form.” She hoped she wasn’t leaving out _too_ much. There were just some things she wasn’t sure she should reveal.

Adora nodded, a thoughtful expression on her face. “I think I remember George and Lance talking about the zodiac when we were getting a crash course on Earth’s culture.” She frowned, seemingly puzzled. “But I don’t remember a family curse. Or a cat.”

“You wouldn’t.” Kyo’s gaze had hardened. “The curse is a secret. And the cat isn’t a part of the zodiac. Not in the same way.” He was fingering his bracelet, and Tohru desperately wished she could give him a comforting hug. Instead, she reached out and placed a hand on his knee. She could feel him relax at her touch - only slightly, but still a victory.

Tohru hadn’t missed the way Catra’s eyes had steadfastly remained on Kyo for much of the conversation. Maybe it was… a cat thing?

“So it seems like this zodiac curse might be an exception to Earth’s ‘no magic’ rule,” Catra finally said. “If it’s magic at all.”

“Is there a way to break this curse?” Adora asked. “I have - I have these sort of healing powers, as She-Ra, so maybe… I could help?”

Tohru couldn’t stop the hope bubbling in her chest at the thought. After learning that Kyo would be - would be… imprisoned after graduation, she was willing to do _anything_ to prevent that from happening. “Kyo, do you think -”

“No.” His tone was flat, and Tohru flinched. He noticed her reaction, and grimaced apologetically. “Sorry. I just mean…” His fist clenched. “We’re… the Sohmas aren’t the kind of broken that your magic powers, or whatever, can heal. But thanks.” He managed a half-hearted smile. “I appreciate the offer.”

There was a pause. But for perhaps the first time since they’d all been in one room together, the silence had a certain tranquility to it, rather than an awkward tension. Which Tohru considered to be a sign of improvement.

“I guess we’ll need to get going soon,” Catra finally said. “Sparkles and Arrow Boy are going to wonder where we disappeared to.”

Adora chuckled. “You mean they’re going to smother us when we get back because they’ll have been stressed out of their minds.”

Wait, they had people waiting for them?! “I’m so sorry!” Tohru exclaimed, jumping to her feet. “Oh, your friends are going to be so worried about you!” She pushed her hair out of her face. “Would you like some - some food, or anything, for your trip back? I can pull something together in no time!”

Adora’s eyes lit up, but Catra beat her to it. “No, we’re fine,” she said with a small smile before shooting Adora a disapproving look. “You’ve already given us plenty of hospitality. We’ve overstayed our welcome.”

Adora appeared slightly disappointed but didn’t comment, instead standing up and pulling Catra to her feet beside her. Tohru noticed neither let go of the other’s hand. “Well, it was nice meeting you guys. And Kyo, again, I really am sorry I threw you into the wall. I hope we can move past that and be friends.”

A small smile formed on Kyo’s lips, and Tohru felt warmth blossom in her chest. “I’d say we’ve moved past it already. And for the record, your super-strength and glowy powers are pretty badass. Less so when I’m the one they’re directed at, but still cool.”

Adora laughed. “Thanks. I appreciate that.”

“I am also sorry for attacking you because I thought you were some creep,” Catra added. “I promise not to do it again. Cats are usually pretty solitary creatures, but that doesn’t mean we have to be enemies, right?”

Kyo laughed as he stood up, and Tohru felt her own smile widen further. “Agreed. But that’s not even the first time that’s happened to me, you know. Tohru also attacked me early on when we met because she thought I was a creep. Tried to knock me out with her school bag. So don’t feel too bad. I think I just have bad luck.”

Tohru buried her face in her hands, aware she was blushing up to her ears. “Kyo!” That was one of the most embarrassing moments of her life. She still felt terrible about it.

Catra snickered. “Oh, I _wish_ I had time to stay and hear that story.”

“It’s a good one.” Kyo then shook his head. “I’m still not sure if this day has been real or if it’s just a weird dream from Yuki decking me and giving me a concussion, but if it is real, it was… interesting to meet you guys. Weird, but in a good way.”

Catra laughed, too. “Yep, that pretty much sums it up.”

“Is there any way we can stay in contact with you guys?” Tohru blurted out. She wasn’t entirely sure what compelled her to ask, but she knew a part of her would soon need proof that she _hadn’t_ imagined their entire encounter. Also… They were her friends now. And she liked keeping in touch with her friends.

Adora frowned, turning to look at Catra. “We have a spare communications pad, don’t we? We could give it to her and just tell Bow we lost it.”

“You mean _I_ will tell Bow we lost it,” Catra corrected as she swung her backpack around to her front and began fishing through it. “Because you’re a terrible liar and he wouldn’t believe you for a second.”

“Exactly. You know me so well.”

Catra rolled her eyes, but Tohru didn’t miss the soft smile that formed on her lips. It was the same smile her mother used to wear when she spoke about her father.

“Aha!” Catra then exclaimed triumphantly, pulling a weirdly-shaped tablet out of her bag and handing it to Tohru. “You can use this to contact us whenever you want. Although we’ll probably have to figure out what the time difference is between Etheria and Earth.”

Tohru accepted the tablet, holding it close to her chest. “Thank you,” she said sincerely. “I hope your quest to restore magic to the universe continues to be successful!”

They exchanged simple goodbyes - making sure to first give Tohru a rundown on how to use the communications pad, for which she was infinitely grateful - and then they left, hand in hand.

Tohru quickly ran to stash the tablet in her bedroom before returning downstairs, walking into the kitchen to see Kyo looking through the fridge. “Would you like me to cook something?” she offered, moving next to him to see what ingredients she’d have to work with.

Kyo lightly knocked her head. “I’ll cook. You can go rest. You’ve had a stressful day.”

“You have, too!” she protested, tucking her hair behind her ears. She was not backing down on this, and she tried to show her determination by squaring her shoulders and staring him down.

She had a feeling it came off as more silly than anything else, at least based on the amused - if fond - smile Kyo gave her.

“Okay, fine. How about we cook together?” he suggested. “Is that an acceptable compromise?”

Tohru beamed at him. “That sounds wonderful!” She clasped her hands together, eyes practically sparkling in excitement. “Oh, we can make something for Yuki and Shigure! They’ll be back soon.” Yuki had been dealing with Student Council business all afternoon, and Shigure had been at the main Sohma estate the entire day. She was certain they’d appreciate coming home to a warm dinner on the table.

Kyo rolled his eyes. “You’re way too considerate of those bastards.”

“And _you_ are too harsh on them,” Tohru chastised, shaking her head. The movement caused her hair to fall in her face again, and she promptly pushed it right back behind her ears. Hmm. Maybe she needed to consider getting it cut?

Apparently Kyo had noticed her struggle, as he left the kitchen for a moment before returning with her ribbon. She started to thank him and reach for it, but he shook his head. “Turn around.”

Tohru blinked, then did as instructed. At first she was rather stiff, but she soon found herself relaxing as Kyo’s hands gently moved through her hair, pulling it up into a ponytail.

“There,” he said after he finished. “Now it should stop getting in your way.”

Tohru instinctively reached up to touch her hair, almost surprised by how secure it felt. “That’s amazing, Kyo! I didn’t know you knew how to do hair.”

Kyo flushed. “It’s nothing fancy. Kagura made me do her hair all the time when we were kids. I remember the basics.”

Tohru couldn’t help but smile softly at the thought of young Kyo brushing and braiding a young Kagura’s hair. “That’s so sweet.” She beamed at him. “And thank you. I love it.”

Kyo’s blush deepened, and he looked away. “Seriously. It’s no big deal.” He paused, as if something had occurred to him. “Oh. Also.” He pulled a small silver bracelet out of his pocket and handed it to her. “I found this on the table. I think one of the girls might have left it.”

Tohru’s eyes widened, recognizing the bracelet as the object that had generated Catra’s human disguise. “Oh, this is Catra’s!” she said frantically, accepting the bracelet from him. “We have to get it back to her! It’s not too late to catch up to them, is it?”

Kyo grabbed her wrist as she started to dash towards the door. “Slow down, dummy,” he said, pulling her back into the kitchen. “They’re long gone.”

He was right. She _knew_ he was right, but - “I feel like we need to return it to her! Somehow.”

“Maybe. But surely she wouldn’t have left it if it was _that_ important.”

Tohru hesitated, glancing down at the broken bracelet cradled in her palms. “Okay,” she finally agreed, relaxing slightly. “That does make sense.” She tucked the bracelet into the pocket of her skirt.

Maybe one day she’d be able to fix it. Maybe one day she could ask _them_ how to fix it by contacting them through the tablet they’d given her. Maybe one day they’d even return in person to pick it up themselves.

No matter what… She would see them again. She was sure of it.

Tohru turned to Kyo, giving him a brilliant smile. “Let’s get cooking!”

~*~

“And you’re _sure_ you’re not hurt -”

“Adora! I told you that I’m fine.” Catra rolled her eyes. “Seriously. You worry too much.”

“You’re my _girlfriend_. It’s my job to worry about you.” Adora sighed, her arms moving from being crossed over her chest to clutching her own shoulders as she hugged herself tightly. “That was _terrifying_ , Catra. Walking in to see some random guy leaning angrily over you with his arm against your throat?” She shuddered. “Ugh. I’m going to have nightmares about that one.”

Catra could feel her expression softening, and she walked across their room on Mara’s ship to place her hands on Adora’s shoulders. “I’m sorry I scared you. But I _promise_ that I’m okay. I honestly don’t think Kyo had any intention to hurt me, anyways.”

Adora’s arms fell to her sides, her hands coming to rest on Catra’s waist. “What makes you say that?”

“You mean besides the fact that he’s actually a nice person?” Catra shrugged. “I just had a feeling, I guess.” Something about the look in his eyes. Fear, panic, desperation. All overshadowed by concern. A willingness to do anything for that _one person_.

It had been like looking in a mirror.

She pulled Adora into a hug, burying her face into her girlfriend’s shoulder. “I love you.”

Adora didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around her in response. “I love you, too.”

They stayed like that for a while. Catra eventually lifted her head, turning to face a direction where she could see out the window, out into the infinite void of space. They’d long since flown away from Earth. But still…

Catra had a feeling they’d see them again. Tohru and Kyo.

She was sure of it.

(After all, they’d have to go pick up her bracelet one day.)

~*~

**Author's Note:**

> i really like this crossover, so i may write more in the future (MAYBE, lol. it just depends). is that something you guys would be interested in?


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